


A Hue of Happiness

by inkkedalone



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, birthday fic, this is me strongly appreciating voltrons yellow paladin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 13:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13365834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkkedalone/pseuds/inkkedalone
Summary: Short one shot of Hunk just having a great day. That's it—because Hunk deserves more love.





	A Hue of Happiness

During the still night-designated hours of the Castle of Lions, there was barely any sound to be heard—except for maybe the occasional overworked taps of the Green Paladin’s keyboard, the clanging of metal swords from the training Red Paladin, or possibly even the inconsistent screams from the Black Paladin’s night terrors. Besides those few interruptions, the night (or what feigned the Earth’s time for resting) had always been something that the Yellow Paladin, Hunk, had always favored. He had always enjoyed tranquility of the stress-free silence, where everyone wasn’t worrying over what would happen next. When they worried, he always did too. They were his friends, after all.

Now, as he made himself comfortable in a loose cocoon of Altean-crafted blankets, he pondered over the whole situation that had come over him and his fellow human friends, out in space so far off where no other Earthling had even come close to imagining. The teen had always known himself to be an overthinker, rendering himself anxious at the thought of even minor inconveniences. It was only thanks to the Blue Paladin that he did anything even remotely dangerous, which he did come to regret at certain times, admittedly.

Shooting up into the outer reaches of the universe in a giant alien space robot because of Lance and Pidge might have seemed like his biggest mistake looking back, but over the weeks—months, or however long it had been since he had last seen his home, he had come to accept being one of the defenders of the entire known universe. It made him proud to look upon the ecstatic countenances of the numerous species he had helped to save. Every child hugging their mother in happy relief and every lover kissing their other half with gained hope made him feel so fufilled, even grateful that he had the opportunity even to just _make_ a difference, big or small.

Hunk gave a small smile to himself atop his bed, thanking whoever was out there for the lives that were saved, and giving a light moment for the ones who had been unfortunate enough to be given back to the stars. He knew he couldn’t help them all, but he could try. After every battle, the castle residents grieved for the lost ones, for they shared the weight of scarlet blood staining their hands, whether from good or bad. With a last thought filled with conflicting emotions, Hunk drifted off.

 

* * *

 

“—ude. Yo. Hunk. My _bro._ My man. Wake up!” The sound of Lance’s shrill voice pierced Hunk’s sensitive ears. The latter groaned in protest, burying his face further into the cozy softness of his pillow. A hand grabbed his shoulder and started to furiously shake him, successfully making him even more disoriented. Finally he rose with sleepy eyes, yawning pitifully.

“What, what? Lance, it’s like, two AM!” He whined. But despite what Hunk was saying, he knew it wasn’t really that early. There was no _way_ that the Paladin who based his entire life on beauty sleep would even dare to interrupt his schedule. That, and the fact that the night cycle of the castle was already starting to recede back into its original florescent blue.

“Come on big guy.” He had finally cracked his eyes open enough to see Lance fully decked out in his regular outfit, tugging lightly on his arm and holding...was that a party hat? It seemed his friend picked up on his confusion, since he chuckled and continued: “Really? You can’t even remember your own birthday?”

“It is?”

“Uh, _yeah._ January thirteenth. Pidge’s been keeping the dates, you know.”

“Okay...well. I’m going back to sleep.”

“What? No, no, no. Get dressed. They’re all waiting for you in the lounge!”

Hunk ignored him and flopped back onto his bed like a boneless sack of potatoes. “ _Hunk!_ ” Lance begged. The addressed waved his hand at his teammate lackadaisically and closed his eyes again.

“Be there in a minute…”

“Hmmph. You better.”

The door slid shut with a hiss, followed by Lance’s excited footsteps echoing out in the hallway. Hunk continued to lie there for a couple more minutes before heaving himself up half-heartedly to get ready. Lance had left the cute party hat on the small desk (assuming it was a desk—Hunk couldn’t really tell apart Altean furniture) near his door. His day clothes were in a closet to the side, the location of them making him regret being so organized as he made a great effort to get to the other side of his room.

After he slowly but surely changed, Hunk stared at the cone-shaped party hat with interest. He wondered how they had managed to get their hands on that thing. Maybe that Earth-like store at the space mall? He put it on somehow without feeling even the slightest bit ridiculous. The Paladin hadn’t worn a party hat since he was a toddler, but now that he was amidst a war between an empire that ruled over the majority of the known universe and the rest of the _unconquered_ universe, he had learned how to appreciate the little things.

Hunk stepped out of his room wearing the little yellow lion slippers that Allura had given to them, combined with his usual outfit. He had never really had an interest in the slippers, but Lance grew them on him and the others, so now it had become a habit to walk around the castle for all of them. The Yellow Paladin strode in the direction of the lounge room with purpose, not really knowing what to expect.

 

* * *

 

He pressed an ear to the double high-tech doors of the Castle’s lounge area, squinting his eyes in interest when he couldn’t hear a single sound. He pressed a button, making the doors open. It was dark...oh no.

“SUPRISE!” The harsh lights suddenly turned on and out popped the entire residency of the Castle of Lions. (Which to be fair, was quite a bunch considering the number of aliens they’ve rescued and had not yet begun to relocate.) Even a few rebels were there, waving and blowing on noisemakers. (Seriously, did they go to the space mall without him?)

Hunk flinched a little, laughing nervously. “Aw,” he started, blushing furiously. “I—”

Lance interrupted him with an annoying finger pressed to Hunk’s lips. “Nuh uh. Today is your day.”

Pidge came up behind him with Matt, pushing up her glasses with an accomplished smirk. “Happy Birthday, Hunk.” Just from her expression, he knew that she planned the entire thing. He shook his head, face still tinted a light pink.

“Happy Birthday!” Matt patted him on the shoulder before ruffling Pidge’s hair. “And great job planning, sis.” Yep, he knew it.

“Happy day of birthing!!!” Allura and Coran’s accented voices stood out from the rest of the crowd.

“You’re a little slow on the uptake, guys.” Hunk saw Lance move to them with hands on his hips and continued to watch him explain how Earth birthday customs worked.

People continued him to wish a happy birthday in various ways—Shiro with a handshake, Keith with a hesitant but truthful smile, Slav with a remark on another reality, the list went on and on. The mice also crawled up Hunk’s arms when he excused himself to grab a drink from the table, squeaking excitedly. He fed them a crumb of an Altean dessert that reminded him of a cupcake mixed with ice-cream, which actually didn’t taste disgusting for once. He guessed Coran really could cook after all.

The rest of the day was spent with him receiving small alien knick-knacks from some people, a large unnecessary gift from Lance, a useful gift from Pidge, a practical weapon from Keith, and a little jewelry charm from Shiro. Coran and Allura had given him some sort of Altean machine and never told him what it was, making him a little scared to find out what exactly it was, especially since Pidge snickered every time she glanced at it.

He spent the evening with his friends after most of the other guests had retired to their respective dorms and planets. The Paladins played video games in Lance’s room and a bonding game in the training area before eating a dinner (this time Hunk made it, thankful for them celebrating the day for him) that just barely resembled an Earthly home-cooked meal with substituted space ingredients. Seriously, he had to use a chicken substitute that was _purple_.

After they were stuffed, they lazed around in the lounge, sharing stories together and just making small talk. Sibling stories with Matt and Pidge were told, Lance’s own family, Keith’s awkward Garrison encounters, and Shiro’s tales from Japanese culture. They didn’t even have any Paladin duties that day—Allura and Coran insisting that they land on a planet away from the Galra and taking a day off for relaxation.

 

* * *

 

“And so he said, ‘I’m gonna chug this. This entire mug of soda, energy drink, and espresso, all mixed.’ I’m surprised he even made it to the hospital.” It was Keith who was currently telling stories of the times during high school exam week.

The Alteans and Malmorans had many questions afterwards, like, “What’s an espresso?” “Is this, _school_ a form of Earthly torture?” Keith gladly explained them all between a fit of light chuckles. Hunk laughed along joyfully, content. When he felt there was enough of a pause for him to start talking, the Paladin started to thank the rest of the team.

“Really guys,” he started, after Lance finished retelling that one time he caught Keith watching My Little Pony (“It’s a good show, Lance. Guess you just can’t appreciate them.”). “It’s been an awesome day. I could barely count what month it was, let alone that it was actually my birthday. I couldn’t ask for better friends.”

He was met with a chorus of thanks and reassurances, most of which that came from Lance screeching at the top of his lungs about how he loved his best friend, aka the nicest human being in the universe.

The Yellow Paladin slept better that week than ever since he left Earth, knowing that he was loved and cherished.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: inkkedalone  
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> 
> Please leave your thoughts on this fic and any mistakes that I may have made or on areas that I may need to improve! Anything would be gladly appreciated <3


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